Air Handshake - A Concentration Test

'Sorries' make me uncomfortable - whether I say them or whether the person in front of me is saying them. I have always been a 'forget rather than forgive' person. This helps me to internalize the anguish I feel when I feel hurt or when I feel guilty for the hurt I render someone. This also leads me to let go of many things in life, forget most things in life - not always the bad ones. So pardon me if I forget the good times. I try to recollect some...

School days are the best days of one's life. And more often than not, most of mine where I can still laugh or smile about have been involving Sandy. This one goes when we were in grade Twelve, had been so for quite a few months. We had a place on the stage in front of the Assembly Hall, where we used to spend a lot of time in lunch break, free periods or after class. It came to be known as the XI-B place first and next year XII-B place as we jumped a class ahead. So we were at 'our place' and...

One of Us: This is a Concentration Test. One of us will hold two hands in front in the position of a clap. You have to place a hand in front of you in the handshake position in between the two hands of one of us. You decide the distance between the two hands. Then you close your eyes and start moving your hand up and down in the same position, without touching the hands on either side and start counting. The closeness of the two hands and the number you reach will show how strong a concentration you have. Ready?

Sandy: Ready

And as she went on to count while moving her hand up and down, all of us moved away and went to stand at the Bicycle Stand near the Assembly Hall. Some of our juniors passed that area and looked at Sandy all alone doing the weird 'air hand-shake'. Once she realized what we were up to, she ran after us to hit any of us who would get caught by her. And we just kept saying, "What a concentration!"

The last class of one's school days where in one feels like the monarchs of the world! One is much respected and feared also sometimes, as the senior most in school. And we made her a spectacle in front of the juniors, who gave her weird looks. But she did take this one too in her stride and today laughs over it.

But her concentration was sure commendable. That day before she realized what we were up to, I believe she went up to 116!